Wild Bull® - Genuine English Dartboard

The Wild Bull® — the world’s only electronic, steel-tip darts machines using a genuine, English, dartboard.

Real darting is a pleasure for many of our senses.

You have seen the traditional dartboard hanging on the wall in a great pub. You may have even played on one and experienced that sensation of a steel dart, ‘thumping’ into the real bristle board. No ‘clacking’ sound, no bounce outs, no holes and no need for special, lighter-weight, soft-tip darts. The total experience is enjoyed by more than one of our senses: sense of touch, with a real dart in your hand; sense of ‘sight’ by looking at a genuine dartboard; sense of ‘sound’ as the dart hits the solid board.

The experience is so unique that when Eurosport, the BBC and other television networks televise darts, they install microphones behind the boards — just like they place microphones on the tee box to hear a golfer’s drive and near the net’s rim to hear a missed free throw in basketball.

We have captured this real darting experience in the Wild Bull® with our genuine dartboard and patented steel dart detection. The end result is the feel and sophistication of steel darting in its genuine form with the modern convenience of automatic scoring.

The Plastic Target Story

One of our founders, Rudy Allison, invented the first soft-tip dart target because the technology didn’t yet exist to create an electronic-scoring game using a real bristle dartboard. Rudy and his engineers invented a new plastic target with tiny holes in it to grab a dart. So as to not damage the board, the darts featured plastic tips. The darts hit the board closing a switch that marks a score. Alas, soft-tip (plastic) darting was born.

Some 30 years later, soft-tip dart targets remain the same. They are still targets not dartboards. The segments move when a dart (or any other object) hits them, a switch is closed and the corresponding score is marked. However, even darts that hit and bounce off a plastic segment score. This became such a problem that plastic dart machine manufacturers had to change the rules of darting to account for this. Their new rule simply states, “the machine is always correct.”

The New Hybrid Target

Today a new type of ‘hybrid target’ has entered the market. These targets have real or imitation bristle embedded into moving segments and are strong enough to accommodate steel darts. Many of these are sold at retail outlets like Wal-Mart. While these targets are robust enough to withstand a heavier steel dart, they operate on the same “switching concept” as soft-tip machines and the end result remains the same as soft-tip targets — the noise, dart fallout, bounce-out and non-regulation size considerations.

What’s a Real Genuine Dartboard?

The Wild Bull® is the World’s only dart game that does not use a ‘target’ but instead uses a genuine, premium bristle dartboard. The boards used in the Wild Bull® are considered premium dartboards and are made using 100% South- African Sisal (bristle) which is considered the World’s finest. Combined with the finest materials and construction, it all adds up to a Premium Grade board. The benefit of using these higher cost materials and construction is superior look, feel, and playability. Our Operators also report that our premium boards even last longer.

The Board for Both

Wild Bull® players are either (1) new darters (2) steel darters who enjoy automatic scoring but expect a genuine dartboard or (3) soft-tip darters who also play on the Wild Bull®. Why would a soft-tip darter also want to enjoy playing on our genuine dartboard? Because they simply love the Feel of Steel™. Many darters in soft-tip leagues and have now added a Wild Bull® steel dart league to their schedule.

Wild Bull® players and operators know only we can offer the only electronic darts machine that: